


giving you my silence

by Amymel86



Series: finding my voice [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Speech Disorders, Stuttering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 15:38:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20194642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amymel86/pseuds/Amymel86
Summary: Sansa knows. He'd let her read his confession all while nervously fiddling with his own fingers. He's still not completely sure how she feels about it all.





	giving you my silence

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I want to say a huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who has been commenting on this series! Your enthusiasm for this universe has helped fuel me to keep at it.
> 
> Secondly, woo hoo! I stayed within the word limit! There was going to be more to this chapter but as it was going to be a time-jump into the future, it made sense to separate it. I plan on posting the next part very soon 😊
> 
> This is for the free day for the drabble event.
> 
> Ps - a few commenters on the last chapter alerted me to the fact that at different places it was listed as both part 3 and part 4 of this series... I have no idea why it's doing that, sorry!! 🤷♀️😂

Orell stepped foot in The Wolf Pack Coffee Shop three weeks ago, and since then, it feels to Jon as though a lot has happened... and nothing at all.

Sansa knows. He'd let her read his confession all while nervously fiddling with his own fingers. He's still not completely sure how she feels about it all.

Jon has a job. Tarly Books - a small charity, run by a kind man who decided to give Jon a chance. For most of his working days, Jon sorts through secondhand books, catalogues them and helps with packing them up to be redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, or prisons. It's only part-time and minimum wage but Jon doesn't mind. Sam, the founder, says that even the most dog-eared and well-thumbed book can find a home, and as Jon's very first 'proper' employer, he likes the man very much.

He hasn't been back to the coffee shop. He's a little afraid to, but mainly he just wanted to give Sansa her space. The wide eyed look she'd given him after reading of his dark past still shadows his mind, and he felt he owed her some time to sort through how she'd felt about it all. How she felt about him.

Tonight, however, Jon finds himself stood across the street from The Wolf Pack, it's warm glow and rich coffee aroma spilling into the chilly autumn evening. He takes one last fortifying breath, glanced down to the paper in his hand and pushes open the door to the sound of a tinkling bell.

"We're about to-" 

-_close_, Jon mentally finishes Sansa's sentence.

She had been sweeping the floor, her back turned to him before she looks to see who had entered.

"_Jon_," she says, surprised. He can't yet figure out whether it was a good surprise or a bad one.

_Breathe_.

"Hello, Sansa."

She smiles at that.

"Is it ok for me to b-" he'd almost made it. ".. to b-..." the damn sound is stuck on his tongue but Sansa is walking slowly towards him and his heart is beating faster, which isn't helping at all.

_Concentrate_.

"...to be here... is it ok for me to be here?" Jon exhales in relief.

A crease forms on Sansa's brow. "Of course it's ok."

"It's just-" she's standing so close to him now and Jon needs to get his breathing under control or he'll be screwed. He licks his lips and squares his feet, trying to ignore the fact that she smells like moonblooms and buttercream frosting this close up. "It's just that now you know... now you know what I've done... I don't want you to feel unc-... to feel unc-"

_Breathe._

"-uncomfortable." Jon gulps, nervously awaiting her response.

"It was a lot to take in," she admits, glancing down briefly, "but... I _missed_ you, Jon."

"I missed you too."

They both stand there then, blinking at one another in the warm glow of a late night coffee shop. The corner of Sansa's lips tug up slowly before she glances down and catches sight of the paper he carries. "_Oh_!" She gasps, "is that my tattoo design?!"

"Uh," Jon responds dumbly. She's all excited and eager now and it had taken a bit longer for Jon to snap out of the hazy spell she'd cast over him mere seconds ago. "Yeah." He hands over the paper with his rough sketch, hoping she'd like it. Judging by the squeals, she does.

"Oh my Gods, Jon! It's _gorgeous_!" Sansa grins.

_You're gorgeous. _

On the paper, Jon had sketched the profile of a wolf's head. He'd wanted it to be feminine just like Sansa, and he thinks that he has accomplished that fairly well. Within the wolf's elegant fur, Jon had tried to weave all sorts of pretty wildflowers, one large bloom looking to be the temporary perch for a beautiful dragonfly before it might flit off on it's way someplace else.

"J-Jenny wore flowers-" he points to the blooms decorating the wolf's neck, "-in her hair," Jon explains, knowing Jenny and Duncan to be Sansa's favourite book.

"And there's a dragonfly!" She gasps, blindly reaching out to clutch his arm as though she were so bowled over by his design she'd become unsteady on her feet. Jon doesn't mind, he'd happily be here to ensure she never falls anytime she wanted.

Sansa's gaze is still intent on his sketch, eyes hungrily darting here and there, trying to take in all the details he'd included. As he watches her, Jon can't help but feel extremely grateful that it was Sansa behind that counter on the fateful day he was forced to attempt to speak to someone. "I'm trying to be a good man now," he tells her, voice quiet and hoarse. "I w-want to be good."

Sansa looks up to him, sapphire eyes glittering like gemstones. She squeezes his arm. "You _are_."


End file.
